LONDON — A majority of the British public now believes the United States is a negative force in the world, according to new polling shared with POLITICO as the Iran war continues to strain the transatlantic relationship.
Public First polling carried out for the London Defence Conference shows that more than half (53 percent) of Brits now view America as a negative force globally — up from 35 percent who felt that way in The POLITICO Poll in December.
Fewer than a third (29 percent) of those asked now think the U.S. plays a positive role in the world. That’s a sharp drop from December’s poll, when 41 percent backed that position. Both polls were conducted by Public First using the same methodology and question wording.
The latest poll was conducted from Apr. 3 to Apr. 7, surveying more than 2,000 respondents each from Canada, U.K., France and Germany. It comes as transatlantic relations sour further over British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s refusal to support U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran. Starmer has allowed the use of British airbases for defensive purposes, but has continued to receive regular criticism from a president he was at pains to build links with.
The latest numbers show nearly two thirds (65 percent) of British adults now think America tends to create problems for other countries, up from 46 percent in December. Just 22 percent now think the United States tends toward solving the problems of other nations, down from 35 percent late last year.
More than half (57 percent) of Brits said America challenges its allies around the world — up from 41 percent in December — compared to just 27 percent who say the U.S. supports allies, down from 40 percent in December.
Almost half (49 percent) of Brits now say the U.S. cannot be depended upon in a crisis, a rise on the 36 percent logged in December.
Britain, which has long prided itself on a “special relationship” with the U.S., had been an outlier among comparable nations — including France, Germany and Canada — on sentiment toward the U.S.
All of those nations had more negative perspectives than the U.K. on the United States’ place in the world when polled in December — but on some key measures the U.K. has seen similar shifts to its allies.
“In just 5 months, the U.K. public has entirely lost faith in their main ally — right at the moment that the world seems historically unstable,” said Public First’s Head of Polling Seb Wride.
